Law schools face off in Transactional Law Competition

Pictured are (left to right) Jaffe Transactional Law Competition co-chair Arthur Griem, Peter Sugar, “SeaCatcher” winners Alex Krasuski and Fadee Nakkash, Gabriel Appel, and co-chair Ahmad Sabbagh.

– Photo courtesy of Wayne Law
 

Teams from Wayne State University Law School, University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, and University of Michigan Law School competed Friday, March 29, in the Jaffe Transactional Law Competition hosted by Wayne Law.

Representatives from the schools were:

- Wayne Law (negotiators) Asma Al-Khshali, Jamila Garmo, Alexander Krasuski and Fadee Nakkash

- Wayne Law (drafters) Jeremy Bleier, Megan Hoberg, Hayley Johnson, Adomas Rauckis and Joseph Zannetti

- Detroit Mercy Law Andrew Colautti, Garret Haddon, Ryan Robertson and Jessica Wong

- Michigan Law Austin Bowman, Josh Healy, Timothy Leake and Emma Macfarlane

Winners were Wayne Law students Alexander Krasuski and Fadee Nakkash, who represented the "SeaCatcher" client, and Michigan Law students Timothy Leake and Austin Bowman, who represented the "Arrowhead" client.

The competition between the three law schools was the first of its kind. Each school assembled its top negotiators either from an in-house competition or at the discretion of faculty advisors. Professors Ted Becker of Michigan Law, David Joswick of Detroit Mercy Law and Eric Zacks of Wayne Law, were faculty advisors and provided guidance to their respective teams over the course of the semester. Third-year Wayne Law students Arthur Griem and Ahmad Sabbagh co-chaired and organized the event. The competition was supported by the Jaffe Transactional Law Competition Fund, established in 2018 at Wayne State University Law School by Michigan-based law firm Jaffe, Raitt, Heuer, and Weiss.

"This competition brought together the top negotiators from Michigan law schools," said Griem. "It was an honor to host this competition at Wayne State University Law School."

"The faculty advisors from the three different schools agreed that this competition provides an invaluable skill-building experience for students interested in transactional law, and we were all very pleased to be able to work together and put on this competition for the first time," said Zacks.

After weeks of drafting and revising, the live negotiations brought the schools together for two rounds of competition. The panel of judges composed of eight attorneys offered feedback after each round.

Attorneys serving as judges were:

- Gabriel Appel, Jaffe, Raitt, Heuer, and Weiss

- John Kanan, Honigman, Miller, Schwartz, and Cohn

- Clara Seymour, Honigman, Miller, Schwartz, and Cohn

- Peter Sugar, Jaffe, Raitt, Heuer, and Weiss

- Apollo Upshaw, Ford Motor Company

- Matt VanWasshnova, Honigman, Miller, Schwartz, and Cohn

- Christopher Webb, Webb ADR

- Richard Hoeg, Hoeg Law

Published: Tue, Apr 23, 2019